Intercer Adventist News

Closer To Heaven
You are here: Home / Archives for ministries

Believing in Advance

By

 “If I spend enough time with God, I will inevitably begin to look at the world with a point of view that more resembles God’s own. What is faith, after all, but believing in advance what will only make sense in reverse.” 

–Philip Yancey, Prayer: Does It Make Any Difference?

I need to come into God’s presence daily. Doing so will ensure that I gain a perspective of myself and the world from his vantage point. When I fail to do this, I quickly assume that I am at liberty to live as I please. Apart from God I buy into the ideology of the west that promotes self fulfillment over sacrifice and service. 

Apart from God I self implode and ignore the needs of those around me. The same was true in Paul’s day, which prompted him to say, “do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”1

Paul follows this with an appeal for Christ’s followers to exercise their spiritual gifts for the sake of the Christian community, as well as the individual serving.

“Lord, give me courage to practice what I intuitively believe, even if it doesn’t make sense at the moment.”

1 Romans 12:2 (NKJV)
________________________________________

Comments by Rich DuBose. BetterSermons © 2010. All rights reserved. Use of this material is subject to usage guidelines | View main index

Read more at the source: Believing in Advance

Article excerpt posted on en.intercer.net from Inspirational quotes and thoughts.

Look to the Heavens

By

“I can see how it might be possible for a man to look down upon the earth and be an atheist, but I cannot conceive how a man could look up into the heavens, and say there is no God.”

–Abraham Lincoln

Nature is a powerful weapon in God’s arsenal of spiritual weapons. Being exposed to God’s creation in all of its glory can soften our jaded senses and transform our thinking. Years ago, when only 17-years old, I went on a camp-out with a friends in central California to a place called Pinnacles National Monument. While there I came to my senses and began my life-long journey with God. This was my moment of truth. And nature certainly played a role in bringing me to the point where I was willing to listen to God.
________________________________________

Comments by Rich DuBose. BetterSermons © 2010. All rights reserved. Use of this material is subject to usage guidelines | View main index

Read more at the source: Look to the Heavens

Article excerpt posted on en.intercer.net from Inspirational quotes and thoughts.

Winning and Losing

By

“The most important tactic in an argument, next to being right, is to leave an escape hatch for your opponent, so that he can gracefully swing over to your side without an embarrassing loss of face.”

–Syndey J. Harris

When debating with someone over an issue, it is tempting to think that our goal is to win the argument. But really it should be to win the confidence and respect of the person we are talking with. If we don’t accomplish this, we run the risk of being right but losing a friend.

I recently heard a radio talk show host say that conservatives should not try to work with liberals but should just flat out beat them. In his view, our government doesn’t need two sides of the isle.” We should only elect people who agree on every major issue–and of course, they must be conservative.

This kind of thinking is both unrealistic and unAmerican! The democratic process can only continue if we are willing to allow everyone a seat at the table, while showing respect and compassion for the other, regardless of the issue. The moment we demonize our opponent we lose the magic of what has made the United States the great nation that it is.
________________________________________

Comments by Rich DuBose. BetterSermons © 2009. All rights reserved. Use of this material is subject to usage guidelines | View main index

Read more at the source: Winning and Losing

Article excerpt posted on en.intercer.net from Inspirational quotes and thoughts.

Spend it Wisely

By

“Yesterday is a canceled check; tomorrow is a promissory note; today is the only cash you have, so spend it wisely.”

–Kay Lyons

Sometimes we obsess over everything but what we can actually control. The past with its regrets is beyond our reach and the future is unknown. Yet these two unreachable realms are what we long for. Anything but the present. The secret to happiness and success lie in making today our preferred destination.

As you go through this day, invest your interests, memories and plans in your present activities and the rest will take care of itself. 

________________________________________

Comments by Rich DuBose. BetterSermons © 2009. All rights reserved. Use of this material is subject to usage guidelines | View main index

Read more at the source: Spend it Wisely

Article excerpt posted on en.intercer.net from Inspirational quotes and thoughts.

Dangerous Faith

By

“What’s dangerous about the world today is not belief in God or unbelief but ruthless certainty.”

–Lisa Miller, Newsweek Magazine

The only thing we should be ruthless about is our passion to love God and the people He calls us to serve. Unfortunately, some see themselves as chosen by God to eradicate all evil (which often means imposing their beliefs and opinions upon others against their will). History is replete with examples of monarchs, dictators and leaders who have tried to force faith. It has always resulted in some form of persecution.

We have only to remember what happened in the Dark Ages when the Church tried to impose their definition of truth upon the people of Europe. You can read about the devastating results in J.A. Wylie’s History of Protestantism.

1 Excerpt from Newsweek, Moderates Storm the Religious Battlefield, p. 89, January 7, 2007
________________________________________

Comments by Rich DuBose. BetterSermons © 2009. All rights reserved. Use of this material is subject to usage guidelines | View main index

Read more at the source: Dangerous Faith

Article excerpt posted on en.intercer.net from Inspirational quotes and thoughts.

About Intercer

Intercer is a website with biblical materials in Romanian, English, Hungarian and other languages. We want to bring the light from God's Word to peoples homes. Intercer provides quality Christian resources...[Read More]

Lucian Web Service


Intercer is proudly sponsored by Lucian Web Service - Professional Web Services, Wordpress Websites, Marketing and Affiliate Info. Lucian worked as a subcontractor with Simpleupdates, being one of the programmers for the Adventist Church Connect software. He also presented ACC/ASC workshops... [read more]

Archives

Categories